❝ T o R C H E S . ❞ | Lenoura

It was always weird staring at the school in district eleven. Although Bailey was sixteen, she found herself free from within its walls. Home life and work always prevented the farm girl from going to school, so she had decided it wasn't that important. Of course no one ever berated her about it; truth was that food outweighed everything in eleven. The Capitol didn't need to worry much about brainwashing here, the people were far too busy cultivating and tending to their sustenance. Food is life, she sarcastically thought.

Holding her satchel close to herself she could feel the container holding her mother's porridge sloshing around. She was to deliver it to her mother's friend in town, something she customarily did every other week. Bailey wasn't much for taking shortcuts and delaying, but something about the school building always intrigued her. A small part of her wished she could be surrounded by fellow teenagers sitting around desks with books. Oh please, her mind laughed, as if. You adore the fields and your family of workers. No lie there. Bailey indeed couldn't think of anything better than working with the gifts of nature. Ever since childhood she couldn't be separated from the earth; it was something she shared a sacred bond with.

Deciding she had spent a decent amount of time staring she turned to continue on her errand until she heard a high pitched bell. Oh no. As she had immediately assumed school was over and a wave of children began running from the gray building. Trying as hard as she could to avoid the eager students she soon found herself colliding into someone. Staggering back a couple of feet she stared at the boy who had run straight into her. Something about him seemed almost feral, but he was handsome nonetheless. Even from where the strawberry blonde was standing she could see his beautiful eyes and prominent cheekbones.

"It's alright!" Bailey had discovered she needed to yell over the crowd of people. Seriously, why is everyone so loud? "No harm done." Stepping forward the sixteen year old instantly felt embarrassed with what she was wearing. Her jeans were ripped, like every other pair she owned, her field boots with all their scrapes and spots looked very run down, and her flannel shirt was half sticking inside her pants while the other half fell loosely around her. Knowing that her hair was in it's two-part braid that her mother was a perfectionist at made her feel less self conscious.

Glad she had shortened the distance between them the girl was able to catch his question. "Oh no, I don't go here." It was odd for her to say. Surely he would assume that she went to school, she was carrying a satchel for pete's sake. "My name's Bailey. We've never met. I work in the fields a lot and don't have time for school." It was never hard for the amber eyed girl to have social conversation. She absolutely loved meeting new people and was as open and outgoing as they came.

"Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Her peach lips spread forming a warm smile on her face as she waited for the boy to respond.

She was certain the noise had been dying down. Surely the crowd of children was subsiding and the two teens would be able to hear one another.

Bailey was wrong.

As she listened to the boys introduction she was shell-shocked to see him lunge for her hand. Thankfully it was free from holding onto her satchel, or else both would have been covered in her mother's porridge. The force the boy used was somewhat surprising to the farm girl, and she wasn't entirely sure how to respond. Scream and tell him to let go!

Of course her mind was in panic mode as much as she was, but some small part of the strawberry blonde told her she could trust him. He seemed harmless enough, and Bailey doubted he would hurt her in any way; especially in the brightness of the daylight.

Keeping pace with him wasn't too hard thanks to her work boots and she was happy to see they had only gone as far as the opening to the forest. When he released his hand from hers she stretched her fingers to relieve the tension after being held so forcibly.

“If you couldn’t hear me before, I had said that I’m Axsoa. Also, sorry for pulling you out here, it’s just easier to talk, to hear to breathe.”

Axsoa Bailey repeated the name in her head. It was unique, no doubt about it, but slightly unusual. She herself considered her name plain in comparison to the boy's which wasn't all too hard to comprehend. I'm not so surprised. Then, for no reason Bailey could think of, the boy sunk to the ground and began to play with his finger in the dirt.

Her first instinct should have been shock, but as she looked the boy over she could sense the same feral aura she had picked up on him when she first studied him. He was one with the earth, not in the same way as Bailey, but certainly he enjoyed all that mother nature had to offer. Although she wasn't comfortable enough to bring her own hands to the dirt, she walked to face him then sat down in front of him.

"Nice to meet you Axsoa." She smiled a toothless smile with her peach colored lips and continued. "Honestly don't worry about it, it's fine. It is easier to breathe out here. I prefer the outdoors myself."

The amber-eyed girl considered the conversation casual enough and decided to keep asking the boy questions. "Do you usually come here a lot?" She knew she had an errand to run, but found herself fascinated by the no-longer-stranger squatting in front of her.

The boy's constant smiling was beginning to catch Bailey's attention. Not in a bad way of course, but she was certain that even he was beginning to wonder why he was grinning so often. It's better than a sneer. The farm girl's mind was right. There was never anything that could top a smile. The strawberry blonde loved smiling, especially because of the dimples that appeared on either side of her round cheeks.

The response to her question had been exactly what Bailey was expecting. Something about Axsoa led her to believe that he was truly one with the earth and that he would much rather stay in the wilderness all day than locked up in man-made edifices. She giggled at his remark and was nearly shocked by the pitch of his voice the second he found mud.

But nothing could prepare her for what happened next.

At first she wasn't sure whether what she was witnessing was real or not. Bailey had at times questioned reality and usually she was always so convinced if something was occurring before her. This mud-coating however nearly blew her away. The amber-eyed girl stared as the boy drew on himself with the moist earth. On his arms she could see the patterns of zigzags and swirls, and it was somewhat entrancing and worrisome to look at. Well this is certainly...unique. She couldn't have said it better herself.

Momentarily stuck on the mud, the blonde almost missed Axsoa's comment entirely. "Oh no worry! It's not rude. Just...interesting." She would never judge a single person in her life; even if that person did strike her as a bit odd. Her peach colored lips stretched into a grin and she hoped he would feel comforted by her presence. The last thing he needed was to assume that she was judging him in any way, shape, or form.

Caught off guard by his question, the farm girl laughed. She moved closer to Axsoa and decided to sit on the ground in front of him. It was cool against her ripped jeans and she wondered how his finger's weren't freezing. "Well I actually cultivate wheat and the other half of my family harvests corn. I'm sure the orchards are a lovely place to work though." Instantly her nose filled with the scent of wheat and her mouth watered ever so slightly. Bailey loved grains, that much was obvious.

"I feel at home when I'm out working. That's why I can't wait for this winter to be over. Do you have family that works in the fields?" As she waited for his response she took her right index finger and touched the surface of the mud. It made her feel like a child again in her flower garden.